Remember courtroom sketch artists? The mere fact that they did what they did captured my imagination as a kid, representing as it seemed one of the few remaining vestiges of an older, more askew America, one bound by fewer yet stricter rules and all the more fascinating a component of history for it. These drawings of the shoot of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey remind me of courtroom sketches, albeit on some stylistic levels more than others. And interestingly, just as court reporters once had to use sketch artists because of the supposed disturbance cameras would cause in the courtroom, these drawings result from the pursuit of something less troublesome to a set than a regular still photographer.

From 2001 onwards, Kubrick created illustrated production stills of what happened on his set, rather than having a photographer take noisy and distracting photographs. The illustrations, documenting for the media what happened in front of the camera as well as behind it, would then be sent out in press kits to publications and other media outlets that could promote the film.

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Open Culture editor Dan Colman scours the web for the best educational media. He finds the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & movies you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.